


half light

by astralgabriel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Episode: s13e17 The Thing, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Episode: s13e17 The Thing, Pre-Slash, Protective Castiel, Protective Sam Winchester, angel brothers, the bunker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 12:31:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14261031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralgabriel/pseuds/astralgabriel
Summary: Once the revered Messenger of God, the legendary Silvertongue, he couldn’t trust his voice enough to actually make sound, or his lips to part and shape words. Gabriel’s command over language and its power was unrivalled - he had started wars with his words, brought hope to the most desolate, and on one memorable occasion, flattened an entire city with his voice.Without his words, Gabriel was nothing.





	half light

Gabriel watched Dean and Ketch disappear into the rift, pulsing with his grace. Watched as Sam slumped the moment they were gone, exhausted at holding up a front for his brother. Watched in silence.

Once the revered Messenger of God, the legendary Silvertongue, he couldn’t trust his voice enough to actually make sound, or his lips to part and shape words. Gabriel’s command over language and its power was unrivalled - he had started wars with his words, brought hope to the most desolate, and on one memorable occasion, flattened an entire city with his voice.

To have his words taken, the very core of each of his identities, was far worse than any other torture Asmodeus had doled out.

Without his words, Gabriel was nothing.

Sam, with his beautiful bright soul, had murmured reassurances to Gabriel in a muted tone, each syllable overflowing with empathy and horror and warmth.

Where Asmodeus had been a hollow, dark void, Sam was brilliant and pure and addictive. Sam’s soul was cracked and torn - Gabriel knew he was to blame for some of those fracture lines - and yet it had pulled itself back together, filled those stress lines with hope and belief.

Sam, after checking repeatedly with Gabriel that he was comfortable, tugged at each damned stitch with tweezers and slipped a sharp scalpel between his lips, cutting the thread.

Gabriel trusted Sam, and clung to the desperate belief that this was all real, but it took all he had not to pull away and cower at the cold bite of the metal on his skin. Last time he felt that sensation, his voice was stolen away, along with his remaining scraps of pride and dignity. He couldn’t snark back anymore, couldn’t wear a false bravado and fight back the only way he’d ever known.

Sam, he decided, would be the first person he spoke to.

He let Sam lead him into a room, arm curled about his waist for support. Gabriel wanted to lean into the touch, but chose instead to stumble forward, one unsteady leg in front of the other, guided by Sam.

The room was basic and bare, a standard issue bed in the middle of the room, a chest of draws to the side. Gabriel hesitated for a moment before crossing the boundary, pushing thoughts of _small enclosed space no escape_ to the back of his head.

He saw Sam’s lips move, but didn’t process any of the words he said. Without realising, he started tracing the outline of his own lips with a trembling hand - Sam watched sadly as Gabriel’s eyes glazed over and he reassured himself, checking that the stitches were still gone.

Sam tugged back the bedsheets, and Gabriel obeyed the unspoken command. He was more than tired, he was exhausted on a bone deep level, and Sam made him feel safe. He trusted the hunter, who’d sat in the chair in the corner, standing guard. He trusted Sam to keep him safe as the darkness dragged him into its depths.

_Asmodeus smirked at him._

_Gabriel tried to scream, but his lips were sealed shut. He tried to run, but his own grace immobilised him, holding him still and vulnerable._

_Asmodeus grabbed his face, fingers clawing against hollowed cheeks, and laughed at him. Mocked him for taking comfort in a human, for thinking he was safe._

_For thinking any of it was real._

_Asmodeus reminded him he was little more than property now, an object for him to kick around and play with. That he’d reneged on his own identity long ago, so there was no point in wasting precious archangel grace on such an ungrateful, unworthy being._

_Gabriel felt the the overwhelming panic surge through him as Asmodeus’ cruel grin spread wider, his own blade glinting in the demon’s hand._

_Asmodeus mocked his flee from Heaven, commented on how he was a pathetic excuse for an archangel as the tip of the blade dragged across his collarbones. Michael was the commander in chief, an exceptional strategist. Lucifer was the strength of God, the best fighter ever constructed. Raphael had the gift of healing, able to cure and rebuild what no-one else could._

_What, exactly, did Gabriel contribute?_

_Asmodeus sneered and Gabriel faltered, unable to answer even if he wanted to. The blade dragged heavier now, leaving a thin line of red in its wake. Gabriel began to hyperventilate, feeling the heartbeat of his vessel pounding hard against his ribs._

_The blade came to rest over his heart, and Asmodeus hummed in amusement as Gabriel struggled against the restraints of his own grace. Asmodeus drove his blade down, hard, and Gabriel felt the familiar sensation of burning from the inside out, the agonising fire ripping through the remains of his grace._

Gabriel jolted up, terror gripping his entire body. He looked around frantically, at the dim, empty surroundings, at the walls lined from top to bottom with black shapes, at the closed over door, and screamed.

Nothing made sense and all he could remember was pain and fear and endless torment.

Gabriel screamed, his true voice echoing around the Bunker. They - whoever they were - had been foolish, freeing his mouth. He would bring this place down on top on them. He wouldn’t suffer anymore. He couldn’t.

Glass shattered, and cracks ran up the walls, spreading out in thin spider leg patterns. The entire foundation shook under the weight of Gabriel’s full presence.

Gabriel screamed, his entire being desperate to be heard, until he felt a familiar rush of grace crash into his own, curling around and gripping tight. His voice cut out, and he fell forward, exhausted.

 _Brother_ , it said, sad and desperate, _you are safe here_.

Gabriel melted into the touch of another’s grace, into the feeling of arms wrapped tight around his shoulders. He let out a choked, broken sob and felt the grip of his brother tighten protectively on both a physical and spiritual level. Gabriel couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt the warmth of his siblings, or a touch that promised safety and love and vengeance.

At the sound of footsteps, Gabriel opened his eyes and pushed away in panic. He heard the rhythmic thumping on the floor, something Asmodeus always stretched out before actual torture to build trepidation and fear, and everything came crashing down around him.

All he could feel was absolute terror prickling at every nerve end, tearing through his veins. He could taste the bitter copper taste of his own blood, coating his tongue and pooling in his mouth. The walls felt as though they were collapsing down around him, caging him in, and he couldn’t move, couldn’t-

“Gabriel.”

The voice latched into Gabriel like a tethering hook and dragged him back into reality, away from the torment of his memories and imagination.

A gentle hand closed about one of his own, and Gabriel flinched, but he didn’t pull away. The touch burned against his skin, and Gabriel focused on the sensation, grounded himself in it.

“Gabriel. It’s Sam - you remember me, right?”

Sam. Brilliant, beautiful Sam, watching him with an understanding, broken gaze. Up close, Gabriel saw the effect of the trying years on Sam, the weariness written on his face in thin lines when he frowned.

And Castiel. His sweet younger brother, the rebellious Seraph who’d caused Heaven a whole host of problems.

Castiel, who looked ready to tear the universe in half, every part the heavenly soldier Michael had so desperately wanted him to be. Gabriel felt a flicker of pride, seeing his brother so passionate and determined and loving - Castiel had come far since his youth.

“I’m... the rift,” Castiel said weakly, glancing at Gabriel’s fingers curled tight around Sam’s hand. Sam nodded, lips pulling into a tight line.

Gabriel could feel the reluctance rolling of Castiel, the desperate need to stay as he stood up. He watched as the soft line of Castiel’s trench coat disappeared from view, rounding the corner of the doorway, and felt the warmth of his grace moving further and further away.

“Are you okay?”

Gabriel shook his head. Sam faltered a little, clearly not anticipating honesty.

“Can I help? Something to eat or drink, maybe?”

Gabriel paused, then nodded with a soft hum. The phantom taste of blood still lingered in his mouth, and likely would for a long time - he wanted to drown it out, even in just temporarily, with something. He needed to, before it dragged him back into the depths of his mind.

Sam made to stand up, and Gabriel caught his wrist, fingers wrapped weakly. Sam allowed Gabriel to tug him back down onto the bed, glancing over the archangel with clear concern.

Gabriel opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Sam smiled at him sympathetically, and went to speak, but Gabriel shook his head and tried again.

“Thank you, Sam... For everything...”

His voice was rough and quiet, and each word felt like a razor dragging slowly through his throat. Sam’s responding smile, however, was worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> so, here's my (first) coda piece for 13x17 (aka the episode that tore my soul the shreds, then glued it back together). i'll probs do a piece that's more based around castiel and gabriel 
> 
> the title is inspired by the song half light by LIGHTS
> 
> i hope you enjoyed reading, my tumblr is astralgabriel if you want to come and say hi!
> 
> comments and kudos are always massively appreciated <3


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